Kirby 100: The Lost Adventure

Published Jan 3, 2018
By Tj Dietsch

The Kirby Spotlights conclude with a classic Fantastic Four tale!

Join us to celebrate Jack “King” Kirby’s 100th birthday by learning about the characters and stories he created that changed comics forever. To commemorate Jack’s centennial, we’ve sat down with the modern-day creators he influenced—and the decades of work he gifted us all.

In Jack Kirby’s final issue contributing pencils to FANTASTIC FOUR, the first family of super heroics spotted an old foe called Janus—whom readers had never seen before—in the Negative Zone. Issue #108, which also featured the work of Stan Lee, Joe Sinnott, John Buscema, and John Romita, explained how, long ago, this incredibly powerful individual wreaked havoc, and once even defeated Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm in combat.

Fantastic Four (1961) #108

When Reed Richards recalled an old school friend, named Janus, who studied Nega-Power, he joined Sue Storm on a reconnaissance mission. The Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic traveled to his old friend’s home, where they discovered that Janus’ scientific experiments went awry, creating an evil Janus that had to be killed.

Instead of ceasing his research entirely, however, Janus decided to travel to the Negative Zone to continue his Nega-Power experiments in isolation. As the team watched him, they wondered what would happen should his evil form return—which, of course, he did.

As explained in the book’s intro, Lee and Kirby intended for the Janus adventure to take place five issues earlier than it did, in FANTASTIC FOUR #103. Despite their original plan, however, they didn’t complete the issue in time, and Romita and Buscema ended up filling in to complete the issue for #108.

The original story—which Frenz helped finish drawing based on notes made by the original creators—varied from the one first published. Instead of seeing Janus in the Negative Zone, the team saw a statue of Janus, inspiring Mr. Fantastic to recount their adventure with the villain by way of the nearby Neuroscan. Then, after Reed and Sue planted a camera in Janus’ house, the evil Janus appeared and discovered the FF’s spying device. The good Janus, also present, pulled a gun on his evil form, but this time did not kill him—instead, it was revealed that Janus and Janus were twins!

Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure (2008) #1

This issue—our final Kirby Spotlight—is the King working at his peak. Featuring killer fight scenes, secret hideouts, wild villains, as well as powerful imagery and character work, Jack Kirby ended his run with the Fantastic Four in style.

In appreciation for this story—and for every story we’ve covered during the celebration of the King’s centennial—we say thank you, and happy birthday, to Jack.

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Kirby 100: The Night Flyer

Published Dec 29, 2017
By Tj Dietsch

Jack Kirby gives Captain America a final test with The Night Flyer!

Join us to celebrate Jack “King” Kirby’s 100th birthday by learning about the characters and stories he created that changed comics forever. To commemorate Jack’s centennial, we’ve sat down with the modern-day creators he influenced—and the decades of work he gifted us all.

Jack Kirby’s work on CAPTAIN AMERICA began with his co-creation of the character, alongside Joe Simon, in 1941. The King continued across eras with the Sentinel of Liberty, finally wrapping up more than three decades later in 1977. And as his time as the writer, editor, and artist on the series came to a close, he decided to bring a new character into the mix: The Night Flyer.

Kirby started issue #213 with a characteristic bang as readers witnessed Steve Rogers back in all his star-spangled glory, fighting Nazis and the Red Skull. This, however, turned out to be a nightmare occurring inside Cap’s head; prior to this issue, he’d been temporarily blinded during a battle with the Skull, leaving him to recover in a S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital bed.

Captain America (1968) #212

The planned rest and recovery proved to be difficult for Rogers, as the patient in the bed next to him—known only as The Defector—kept attracting assassins! Steve, still unable to see, took out the first of these attackers with relative ease, but had no idea that The Corporation intended on sending more to finish the job.

The mysterious organization’s Kligger and Veda decided to bring in an operative known as The Night Flyer—a man described as “a cultist…a mystic…a ritualist, dedicated to the art of killing.” Readers got a peek at his strange perfectionist tendencies before The Night Flyer headed for the hospital, ready to put an end to his mark.

Captain America (1968) #213

The villain expertly made his way past not only a visiting Falcon, but also some of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s finest sharpshooters. After briefly getting captured, The Night Flyer managed to escape after blowing up a roomful of agents. Intent on finishing the job, he made his way through the facility before Sam Wilson caught up with the killer, though the Flyer bested him again.

Unwilling to sit the fight out, a hazy-eyed Captain America donned his red, white, and blue gear, leaping into the fray. He caught up with the Night Flyer’s contact inside the hospital before coming face to face with the assassin himself. The Flyer responded to Cap by utilizing a flamethrower—but Rogers held his own long enough for S.H.I.E.L.D. to spot the Flyer’s glider and blast it out of the sky.

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Kirby 100: The Last Thor Stories

Published Dec 28, 2017
By Tj Dietsch

Jack Kirby closes out his epic run by saving reality!

Join us to celebrate Jack “King” Kirby’s 100th birthday by learning about the characters and stories he created that changed comics forever. To commemorate Jack’s centennial, we’ve sat down with the modern-day creators he influenced—and the decades of work he gifted us all.

When it came time for Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to finish their collaborative tenure on THOR in 1970, the duo pulled out all the stops. In THOR #175, the ending began as Loki gathered enough forces to finally achieve his greatest goal: gaining control of Asgard!

Thanks to the help of Mountain Giants, trolls, gnomes, demons, and a menagerie of other menaces—not to mention Thor being on a faraway journey to Midgard during the initial attack—the trickster distracted Asgardian forces and gained entrance into Odin’s chambers. Once there, he used his authority as a son of the sovereign to gain command while the true ruler slept.

Thor (1966) #175

Upon returning to his home realm, Thor saw that Loki wore the mighty Ring Imperial, which led the God of Thunder to attempt to gather his compatriots for a fight against the usurper, but the others couldn’t bring themselves to defy the bearer of such a symbol of power. Ultimately, Thor decided to bow to the new king, though his choice was made more to preserve Sif’s safety than his own.

Despite his early victory, Loki’s rule did not last long. In issue #176, Thor joined Balder, Sif, and the Warriors Three to take on the God of Mischief. Though soon, a much bigger problem arrived on the horizon: Surtur. With Odin’s power lapsing, the fire demon found his prison far less inescapable. Breaking free, the demon demanded retribution from those who wronged him and traveled to Asgard to exact his revenge.

Thor (1966) #176

In issue #177, as Thor and the other heroes prepared themselves to battle Surtur, Loki ducked out and made his way to Earth to avoid trouble. Though, thanks to Balder’s rescue of Odin, the fiery beast found himself imprisoned under the rock once more.

Kirby’s run on THOR ended with issue #179, leaving a story perfectly set up for another world-famous artist, Neal Adams, to conclude. In that finale, Thor traveled back to Earth to make Loki pay for his crimes. Loki tried getting the drop on Thor in his Donald Blake form, but the Thunder God had set a trap. Unfortunately for the Mjolnir wielder, his brother utilized a magic mask to drain him of his powers. A few issues later, though, Thor prevailed, regaining his might and form at last.

Thor (1966) #177

In the years since, a litany of artists have built their own stories and structures across the Nine Realms. As high and far as those designs reach, however, the firmament upon which they all exist will forever be crafted by the King—Jack Kirby.

Stay tuned to Marvel.com for more on Jack Kirby and join the conversation on all of our social channels with the hashtag #Kirby100!

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Kirby 100: Among Us Stalk…The Sentinels

Published Dec 27, 2017
By Tj Dietsch

In his X-Men exit, the King creates some of the mutants’ greatest foes!

Join us to celebrate Jack “King” Kirby’s 100th birthday by learning about the characters and stories he created that changed comics forever. To commemorate Jack’s centennial, we’ve sat down with the modern-day creators he influenced—and the decades of work he gifted us all.

When the X-Men debuted back in 1963, they had Jack Kirby and Stan Lee dreaming up their adventures. Before long, “The King” shifted to working on covers and doing layouts for the book and eventually left. However, before he got going, he helped create one of mutantkind’s most feared enemies: the Sentinels. The arc that introduced the malevolent machines — which ran from 1965 into 1966 and UNCANNY X-MEN #14-17 — saw Kirby working his layout magic along with writer Stan Lee and finisher Werner Roth using his “Jay Gavin” alias.

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #14

The story began with the X-Men all healing up from their run-in with the unstoppable Juggernaut in the previous issue. As Professor X surprised his recuperating students with the idea of a well-earned vacation, Dr. Trask held a press conference to tell the world how he planned on tackling the “mutant menace.” As his charges left for their various getaway spots, Xavier read the paper, which stoked the fire of fear in its human readers in regards to the potential threat of a mutant uprising. In an attempt to calm the public, Professor X appeared on a talk show with Trask to try and convince the world that mutants posed no more danger than average people.

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #15

For his part, Trask used this platform to unveil his mutant-hunting Sentinels to the world. The not-so-good doctor wrongfully assumed that the robotic brains he built would always follow him, but that idea fell apart when one of his creations attacked him on live television. In response, Professor X sent out a call for his X-Men to meet him and fight the mechanical menace. Before Iceman and Beast showed up, though, the lead bot sent Trask off so they could learn how to make more Sentinels in order to take over and then protect humanity.

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #16

Thanks to a mysteriously malfunctioning automaton, the X-Men figured out where the other Sentinels took Trask, to something called Master Mold. They quickly followed and found themselves facing some incredible defenses. In the assault, Beast and Iceman got captured. As the others tried to figure out how to save their friends and stop the robots, Master Mold ordered Trask to use the Psycho-Probe to reveal Beast’s origins. At the same time, the other X-Men broke into the facility and freed Iceman, but found themselves captured. Things looked especially grim, especially after Trask agreed to make an army of Sentinels in a deal that would keep Master Mold from disintegrating an entire city.

On the outside, Xavier realized that a giant gem near the TV studio helped put the earlier Sentinel out of commission, so he had that flown to Master Mold’s compound. That maneuver coincided with the X-Men breaking out of their prison and attacking their captors. All that, combined with Trask deciding to lash out against Master Mold lead to the destruction of the facility and an apparent end to the Sentinel threat, but only for a moment.

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #17

In Kirby’s last issue as layout artist—#17—he saw the X-Men healing from yet another battle, though Iceman remained unconscious. While he lay in a hospital bed, a mysterious force made trouble at the X-Mansion while Warren Worthington III tried beating his visiting parents there. The unseen menace proved none other than Magneto, who opened the door for the Worthingtons at the mansion! Leave it to Kirby to not only go out with a bang, but also present a killer cliffhanger to be followed up by the next artist on deck!

Stay tuned to Marvel.com for more on Jack Kirby and join the conversation on all of our social channels with the hashtag #Kirby100

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Kirby 100: Kiber the Cruel

Published Dec 26, 2017
By Tj Dietsch

The King closes out his run on BLACK PANTHER by pitting him against Kiber the Cruel!

1917 to 2017: 100 years of Kirby.

Join us to celebrate Jack “King” Kirby’s 100th birthday by learning about the characters and stories he created that changed comics forever. To commemorate Jack’s centennial, we’ve sat down with the modern-day creators he influenced—and the decades of work he gifted us all.

Jack Kirby’s run on BLACK PANTHER – the first ongoing series featuring T’Challa – ended in 1978 with that series’ 12th issue. As you may remember from the last Wakanda-set Kirby 100, the hero king had recently returned from a trip abroad to stop his brother Jakarra from destroying the Great Vibranium Mound. In the process, Black Panther got pretty banged up, as we see when this arc began in #11.

Black Panther (1977) #11

As T’Challa dealt with his recovery and strange dreams of a new villain, his physician Joshua Itobo ran some tests and discovering something incredible. Thanks to his intense Vibranium exposure, he now exhibited mental abilities!

Unfortunately, this discovery could not save his family member – and race car driver – Khanata from an unfortunate drive through the land. Needing to let loose, the young man contemplated opening Wakanda up to outsiders, only to find some of them getting the drop on him!

At the same time that T’Challa came to understand his new powers, Khanata woke up to see his captor face to face! In an attempt to break away, he snatched a gun and blasted away at Kiber only to find that physical objects passed right through him!

Stunned and over-powered, Khanata could not resist being thrown into a holding cell with a variety of other prisoners. As T’Challa donned his ceremonial Panther garb, Khanata watched as some of Kiber’s guards grabbed a young man and tossed him into a strange box that transformed the once-living person into energy that Kiber fed off of!

In the next issue, the Panther got himself captured by Kiber’s goons as well. Once in the stronghold, he got a sense of the villain’s plans for turning people into energy. He also used his thought projecting abilities to send Khanata a message to organize a breakout with the other prisoners.

Black Panther (1977) #12

Though it took some convincing, Khanata roused the men thanks in part to a speech that got them to action. “We’re nothing but fuel to Kiber! When he’s through with us he’ll capture others until he destroys humanity! Must we let him do it without a fight? Must we go to our deaths like sheep?” With that, they all jumped at the door together!

The break worked, giving the prisoners the chance to get out of there and also T’Challa to figure out Kiber’s game. However, Kirby would not finish the arc. Jim Shooter, Ed Hannigan and Jerry Bingham stepped in to cover the King and finish out the Kiber saga.

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Kirby 100: The Strength of The Sub-Mariner

Published Dec 22, 2017
By Tj Dietsch

The King concludes his unparalleled run with the Fantastic Four!

1917 to 2017: 100 years of Kirby.

Join us to celebrate Jack “King” Kirby’s 100th birthday by learning about the characters and stories he created that changed comics forever. To commemorate Jack’s centennial, we’ve sat down with the modern-day creators he influenced—and the decades of work he gifted us all.

As Kirby 100 winds down to its final few weeks, we’re going to focus in on the King’s last issues and arcs on some of the books he became most well known for. Today, we spotlight FANTASTIC FOUR #102 from 1970 by Jack and Stan Lee which marked the end of an incredible run on the book by these two titans. Few would expect Kirby’s last FF adventure to begin with Johnny Storm and Crystal trying to nurse Ben Grimm back to health as the flu threatened to take out the team. However, they had much greater problems brewing once again with Namor at the center.

While sailing around in an Atlantean Naval patrol ship, The Sub-Mariner spotted a man unconscious on an island overrun by dinosaur-like creatures. The sea king jumped into the fray, beat away the flying attackers and decided to bring this stranger back to the land of the living, not realizing he now had none other than Magneto in tow!

Not long after, The Thing thought he might be losing his mind as he witnessed nearby buildings flying to pieces. As it happened, Magneto had woken up and started messing around with some of Namor’s equipment, allowing him to project his powers all the way to New York City. Back in Atlantis, the Master of Magnetism got the grand tour of his host’s palace, which Kirby took obvious delight in designing. The two human haters then discussed their shared disdain for those who walked the surface world and decided to team up.

Fantastic Four (1961) #102

In NYC, Mr. Fantastic explained to the rest of the team that he found the signal behind the disturbances coming from Atlantis. He also said that he had a weapon that could retaliate with a concussion missile that would act as a kind of warning shot. They didn’t intend to use the device, but after Magneto attacked them directly in their home, Grimm jammed the button and shot it off. Knowing what caused the rumblings in Atlantis, the mutant menace decided not to explain this to his host and continued pushing his new partner into declaring war on humanity. Namor moved forward with his retaliation, even agreeing to let Magneto tag along.

This story would continue for the next two issues, but without Jack Kirby. He left Marvel in 1970 and moved over to the Distinguished Competition for a few years before returning later in the decade. For more on the very last issue of FANTASTIC FOUR with new Kirby artwork, come on back for the very last installment of Kirby 100!

Stay tuned to Marvel.com for more throughout Kirby Month and beyond! And join the conversation on all of our social channels with the hashtag #Kirby100.

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Kirby 100: The Avengers Meet...Sub-Mariner!

Published Dec 21, 2017
By Tj Dietsch

Namor and Hulk team up to take on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!

1917 to 2017: 100 years of Kirby.

Join us to celebrate Jack “King” Kirby’s 100th birthday by learning about the characters and stories he created that changed comics forever. To commemorate Jack’s centennial, we’ve sat down with the modern-day creators he influenced—and the decades of work he gifted us all.

Never let it be said that Hulk doesn’t have feelings. In fact, a strong sense of betrayal led him to leave the Avengers not long after they formed. He helped found the team along with Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Wasp in the first issue of AVENGERS, but then left at the end of the second after the team battled Space Phantom, who had the ability to take someone’s physical form. After assuming the Jade Giant’s identity, the Phantom fought the heroes who didn’t exactly have nice things to say about Bruce Banner’s alter ego, some of which came out even after Hulk regained his place in this reality.

As AVENGERS #3 by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee began, the team discussed finding The Hulk during their monthly meeting. Iron Man—in his sleeker red and gold armor for the first time in this book—projected himself to the likes of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and even Spider-Man to see if they’d help track the man-monster down to no avail. However, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes did get help from Rick Jones and the Teen Brigade. Rick tried getting Hulk to turn back into Bruce and lie low for a while, but the procedure didn’t take and Hulk returned to his rampaging ways. Jones called out for help and the Avengers answered!

The heroes, however, didn’t quite have the upper hand. Hulk knew their desert battleground far better than anyone and used that knowledge to fight his attackers, hop a train, and make a thrilling escape. Unbeknownst to all the players, they had a secret audience watching all of this: Namor, the Sub-Mariner! He planned to put himself in the one place that Hulk would wind up and then convince him that they should both embrace their hatred of humanity and attack the surface world. Hulk agreed, though he never fully trusted his new partner. They then faced off against the Avengers in tunnels under Gibraltar, which housed abandoned weaponry from World War II. The daring duo used these destruction dealers as part of their attack on our favorite Assemblers.

Avengers (1963) #3

The ensuing battle of epic proportions featured the pair essentially turning Iron Man into a statue, a sonic blast knocking Wasp out of the air, and both Hulk and Namor attempting to rip Mjolnir out of Thor’s hands! Though that endeavor failed, the two mighty misanthropes neared victory up until the moment when stress caused Hulk to return to his Bruce Banner form. At this point, he had kept his dual identity a secret, so the scientist made a break for it while no one watched.

Alone, Namor soon fell to the Avengers, partially because of their strength but also because his powers lessened the longer he moved outside of the water. Thanks to some H2O trickling in, The Sub-Mariner gained just enough juice to make his own escape. In the next issue, he’d have the most important tantrum in all of comics history, accidentally freeing Captain America from his icy prison.

This issue from 1964 went a long way to continue building the Marvel Universe that we all know and love. From the heroes communicating with one another in the beginning to the continued storylines and, of course, the epic villain team-up, Kirby and Lee worked hard on these stories to lay groundwork that’s still being used to this day.

Stay tuned to Marvel.com for more throughout Kirby Month and beyond! And join the conversation on all of our social channels with the hashtag #Kirby100.

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Kirby 100: To Free a Brain Slave!

Published Dec 20, 2017
By Tj Dietsch

Nick Fury faces double the trouble with Mentallo and The Fixer!

1917 to 2017: 100 years of Kirby.

Join us to celebrate Jack “King” Kirby’s 100th birthday by learning about the characters and stories he created that changed comics forever. To commemorate Jack’s centennial, we’ve sat down with the modern-day creators he influenced—and the decades of work he gifted us all.

Over the years, Jack Kirby developed quite the deserved reputation as one of the best tech-artists in comics. His inventions might not actually translate well into the real world, but they sure looked amazing on the page with all of those gears, nozzles, tubes and other details. Kirby and Stan Lee would come up with plenty of books and characters that took advantage of this talent. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s penchant for gadgets and strange villains did exactly that, especially in the story that introduced Mentallo and The Fixer back in 1966.

The tale began most in STRANGE TALES #141 and ran three issues through #142 before wrapping with #143. Nick Fury and company had finished taking out a Hydra faction; upon returning to base, the fearless leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. found himself under attack from his own people! Instead of a mutiny, though, the super spy discovered that his E.S.P. Division had been working on a device that could project thoughts. This set off a mental alarm for a man known as Mentallo, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who had incredible mind powers himself. He intended to take over the organization with his abilities, but failed.

To continue down that road, though, Mentallo decided to look for help. He used his powers to watch from a safe distance as The Fixer used a bed frame, a stool, a sheet, and plenty of stolen parts to break out of prison. Not long after the convict’s escape, the telepathic rogue used his mind-reading abilities to break into the former’s undersea base. Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. actually witnessed this for themselves thanks to another development from the E.S.P. folks. However, since they couldn’t nail down the location, they simply knew they’d have a problem with these two in the not too distant future.

Strange Tales (1951) #141

Mentallo and Fixer fulfilled that prediction as they drove the Thru-The-Ground Tank on their way towards S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ. However, Fury and company had plenty of their own tricks to at least slow down their new enemies, like super-thick walls, moving barriers and plenty of stun-cannons. However, none of that truly worked against the villainous duo, who figured out ways through all of those defenses! The bad guys even maneuvered their way against Nick’s squad so that they avoided attack and also paralyzed them with Neutrino Shells. Even worse? They used an Electronic Helmet to take control of Fury’s body!

While the new leaders of S.H.I.E.L.D. figured out how to keep the power they’d stolen, Tony Stark worked with the rest of the organization to overthrow them. At the same time, Fixer and Mentallo attached Fury to an H-Bomb built with help from Them—later identified as A.I.M.—before taking the mask off. With his mind his own once again, Nick sent out a signal to the E.S.P. division who then alerted the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. to take action. A pair of agents wearing Scrambler Helmets snuck up on Mentallo and Fixer, and blasted them with pure hate waves. With the room stunned by the attack—including Fury—Stark had enough time to get the Neuturalizer in place to disengage the atomic bomb.

As their main distraction disintegrated on the table, Fixer and Mentallo began fighting with one another and soon made a break for it, though S.H.I.E.L.D. agents anticipated their moves and captured the troublemakers!

Stay tuned to Marvel.com for more throughout Kirby Month and beyond! And join the conversation on all of our social channels with the hashtag #Kirby100.

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Kirby 100: 7 Doomed Men!

Published Dec 19, 2017
By Tj Dietsch

The Howlers venture behind enemy lines to destroy a Nazi war machine!

1917 to 2017: 100 years of Kirby.

Join us to celebrate Jack “King” Kirby’s 100th birthday by learning about the characters and stories he created that changed comics forever. To commemorate Jack’s centennial, we’ve sat down with the modern-day creators he influenced—and the decades of work he gifted us all.

They say that there’s no rest for the weary. That sentiment proved doubly true for the Howling Commandos during World War II. Jack Kirby and Stan Lee certainly didn’t take it easy on the stars of SGT. FURY #2 when they kicked the issue off by sending the unit into France for a special mission to destroy the local Nazi sub base. Proving once again why they’re one of the best fighting forces in history, the Howlers caused all sorts of damage to the local Nazi occupiers before making their getaway on a waiting P-T boat. They fully succeeded in their mission to distract the Nazis while an unmanned ship packed with a ton of explosives rammed into the submarine pens.

Thinking they’d return to base in England and catch some rest, the squad quickly realized that they’d have to summon up a second wind and headed out on another mission. This one focused on sneaking behind enemy lines where German scientists worked on building their own atom bomb. Though they didn’t have the full details on the nuclear capabilities of this Manhattan Project-like operation, Fury and his cohorts shifted right back into battle mode. First, they dressed as German seamen, which eventually drew the attention of a harbor patrol, whom they easily overtook. Once in possession of a slightly damaged E-Boat and official uniforms, they made their way into a base, but couldn’t keep quiet for long and started blasting away at the enemy. Not everyone made it out as the Nazis grabbed Dum Dum Dugan.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos (1963) #2

Not willing to let their comrade stay locked up, the Commandos quickly sprung him from jail and then realized that the quickest way to get to the secret weapons lab was to surrender and get sent to the concentration camp at Heinemund. Sickened by what they saw inside the camp, the Howlers moved on with their mission, blowing up huge portions of the vile den along the way. They also freed plenty of captives who fought for their own freedom. The crew then rode off to the weapons lab where they made short work of the scientific equipment and emptied out the train cars of heavy water they needed to create the weapon. While there, Duggan decided to drive a fuel truck right into a rocket they had developed!

With their mission accomplished, Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos made their way to the coast, found an underground-provided life raft and rowed away to safety as the weapons lab exploded behind them!

Stay tuned to Marvel.com for more throughout Kirby Month and beyond! And join the conversation on all of our social channels with the hashtag #Kirby100.

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Kirby 100: Ikaris and the Cosmic Powered Hulk

Published Dec 18, 2017
By Tj Dietsch

The King lets his imagination and pencil run wild with the Eternals!

1917 to 2017: 100 years of Kirby.

Join us to celebrate Jack “King” Kirby’s 100th birthday by learning about the characters and stories he created that changed comics forever. To commemorate Jack’s centennial, we’ve sat down with the modern-day creators he influenced—and the decades of work he gifted us all.

During Jack Kirby’s return to Marvel in the 1970s, he had close to free rein when it came to rejuvenating existing characters like Captain America and Black Panther while also developing brand new ones like the Eternals. A race of super-powered individuals who lived a very long time, the Eternals made it their mission to protect humanity from the evils of the Deviants. However, in the pages of ETERNALS #14–16, Ikaris, Sersi, and Makkari found themselves faced with a far different challenge: The Hulk!

However, this particular Jade Giant proved a far different beast than the Green Goliath originally spawned by a gamma bomb. Instead, this one began as a robot created by some college students intending to get the crowd riled up for a football game. When the Uni-Mind—a conglomeration of all the Eternals in a floating collective brain—unleashed its power on the Earth, it unintentionally brought the artificial form to life. Though incredibly powerful in their own right, the trio of Eternals—accompanied by their human friends Margo and Professor Holden—didn’t seem capable of putting a dent in the cosmically powered being.

Eternals (1976) #14

As you can imagine, the police and National Guard forces did not fare any better with the rampaging monstrosity who seemed bent solely on destruction. Just as the powered-up robot made his way to Ikaris for one final bout, the Eternals’ leader Zuras appeared out of nowhere, proclaiming, “Let my hand decide this fight!!” With but a touch, he began to release the cosmic energy from the bionic beast, but that still left Ikaris and company with a powerful robot to track down.

These events rolled right on into even more compelling ones as the pseudo Hulk blew itself up under the city after messing with gas lines. Once underground, Ikaris found himself taken over by another presence that soon made him do battle with his compatriot and friend Makkari—but that’s another story for another day!

The real fun of this arc comes from seeing these new characters take on a classic one that Kirby co-created 15 years prior. From the fisticuffs to the destruction and even the moments when the Eternals deal with the media, these issues comprise pure Kirby at what many consider his best!

Stay tuned to Marvel.com for more throughout Kirby Month and beyond! And join the conversation on all of our social channels with the hashtag #Kirby100.